A:
There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable
and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You
can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green
Guru's secret identity.

rate this answer

Monday - March 26, 2007

QUESTION:

I'd like to buy a flowering dogwood tree. Love the fall berries and spring flowers. I haven't had been able to find them at the nurseries I frequent (Great Outdoors, Natural Gardener, Breed, Barton Springs). Any advice? And please don't try to sell me on the rough leaf. Thanks!

ANSWER:

Sometimes considered the most spectacular of the native, flowering trees, Cornus florida (flowering dogwood) is a 20-40 ft., single- or multi-trunked tree with a spreading crown and long-lasting, showy, white and pink spring blooms. Alas, the flowering dogwood makes its home in the eastern deciduous forest which explains why you won't find it at central Texas nurseries. The range of flowering dogwood extends from extreme southwestern Maine west to New York, extreme southern Ontario, central Michigan, central Illinois, and central Missouri; south to extreme southeast Kansas, eastern Oklahoma, east Texas; and east to north Florida. In addition, it prefers partial shade and moist well-drained soil. Best suited to nutrient-rich forest soils, it often becomes stressed when planted in relatively poor urban soil. Cornus drummondii (roughleaf dogwood) on the other hand....

Sources for native plants in Wimberly, TXMarch 10, 2008 - Where can I go to find a good selection of Central Texas Native plants. I live in Wimberley and I want to fill my garden and land with native plants, shrubs and trees. I cannot find a place to purcha...view the full question and answer